Youth Parliament Pakistan

	News and Events
	Self-Reliance should be the ultimate goal of our economy: Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar addresses Youth Parliament Pakistan
	3 problems of Pakistan: Implementation, Implementation, Implementation We must not pass on the cost of Governance Failures to the People of Pakistan All Provinces must pay their electricity dues to resolve the issue of circular debt in energy sector Youth must publicly pledge that we won’t allow plundering of our national resources We need to curtail our deficit and move towards self-reliance Had the Government borrowed to build Pakistan’s assets, I would have been the happiest Pakistani We need to remove the discretionary fund of Prime Minister We have to do away with the practice of awarding plots to certain services VIP Culture must be done-away with; why should former Presidents and Prime Ministers have perks and privileges? We must fix the energy mix and go back to producing 70% hydel and 30% non-hydel sources of energy production Politicians should have a say in preparing budget; Parliament and Parliamentary Committees must scrutinize budget Targeted subsidy is needed but this does not mean we should create an army of beggars in Pakistan through programmes such as the Benazir Income Support Programme
	Islamabad, June 22; In an interactive session on the topic of Budgetary and Economic Reforms in Pakistan, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Pakistan, shared with the Youth Parliament Pakistan his analysis of the economy and his reform proposals to improve Pakistan’s economy. Senator Dar was addressing the third day of the third session of Youth Parliament Pakistan that is taking place in Islamabad, Pakistan. Presenting his analysis of the economy, Senator Dar criticized the PPP Government for borrowing money from domestic and foreign sources without a credible economic recovery plan of Pakistan. Pakistan has the lowest domestic saving of 5.8% compared to the 30-40%of the western countries. 60 paisas out of 1 rupee are being spent on debt-servicing which is simply not sustainable, he added. Reducing deficit and moving towards self-reliance are the only options for Pakistan’s economic future, he added. Senator Dar explained with statistics that the Government of Pakistan had spent more than Rs. 457 billion than the Parliament had allocated in the previous budget. Such supplementary spending levels are unacceptable and must be regulated, he added. He said that Pakistan can become a self-sustaining country only if it cuts down the unnecessary Government expenses. “I am allergic to the word of “discretionary funds” and never used any in my tenure as Finance Minister. No discretionary funds should exist even for the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Rs. 27 billion that have been kept as discretionary funds for the Prime Minister in the 2012-2013 budget should instead be used to resolve the issue of circular debt in energy sector, he advised. In term of financial opportunities for Pakistan, Senator Dar was of the opinion that Pakistan can benefit from the implementation of the Agricultural Tax by provinces which at the moment is very low and should be efficiently planned and imposed. Touching upon the energy crisis, Senator Dar said that public outrage at energy deficiency is not misplaced. He said that we must fix the energy mix and return to 70% hydel and 30% non-hydel based energy production. Had the Government planned efficiently, we would not be facing the shortage of 7000 Mega Watts of energy. It is regrettable, he said, that two provinces of Pakistan have based their politics on dams against the good of citizens. Answering animated questions of members of Youth Parliament, Senator Dar said that he is encouraged to see that the youth of Pakistan is alive to the economic challenges of Pakistan. Pakistan’s political culture must change and every citizen musat offer himself or herself for public service as a sacred duty. Pleased at the interest and knowledge of members of Youth Parliament, Senator Dar said that at nearly 45% of the population, it is the youth of Pakistan that has to lead the country forward. The Youth Prime Minister Mr. Hashim Azeem (YP33-Punjab13), Youth opposition Leader Mr. Fahad Mazhar (YP15-KPK02), Youth Finance and Economic Affairs Mr. Numair Farooq (YP21-Punjab05) and Youth Shadow Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Mr. Tabraiz Marri (YP58-Sindh10) presented Youth Parliament Pakistan souvenir to Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar. Youth Parliament Pakistan is a PILDAT initiative. It is patterned after the National Assembly of Pakistan and its selected members, 60 in total, engage in Parliamentary business including debate on important national issues, legislation, and overseeing and scrutinising key national policies from the youth’s perspective. PILDAT formed the first-ever Youth Parliament Pakistan in the year 2007. After the successful completion of the three Youth Parliament terms in 2007, 2008 and 2009, PILDAT has now launched the fourth Youth Parliament Pakistan 2012.

Youth Parliament of Pakistan